Many known AC/DC converter architectures are based on rectifying elements, which may be controllable (thyristors, for example) or not (diodes), powered with an AC voltage and supplying a DC voltage, this DC voltage being possibly itself converted back into an AC voltage.
The inrush current, that is, the current peaks which occur on each halfwave of the AC voltage as long as the voltage across a capacitor at the output of the rectifying bridge has not reached a sufficient level and, this, particularly, in starting phases, is generally desired to be limited.
The following documents describe examples of AC/DC converters: U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,968 and United States Patent Application Publication No. 2012/230075 (incorporated by reference).